Sports complex a grand slam for village of Mary D

Fields replace one lost to mine drainage cleanup project.

June 24, 2008|By Lisa Price Special to The Morning Call - Freelance

All that was missing was Kevin Costner and some tall corn.

The new sports complex in the tiny Schuylkill County village of Mary D is, in its way, a Field of Dreams -- testimony to what can be accomplished when one team member after another steps up to the plate.

Bill Reichert of Schuylkill Haven, president of Schuylkill Headwaters Association, detailed the chain of events that united 19 community groups, businesses and organizations on the project.

Reichert has been the utility player who has spearheaded several water-quality improvement projects along the river, and it was one of those -- the Mary D "Bore Hole," a project to stop acid mine water drainage -- that took him to the village five years ago.

To access and rectify that acid mine drainage meant destroying the town's previous baseball field, owned by the Mary D Fire Company. To make matters worse, Eastern Schuylkill Recreation Commission had just gotten a $25,000 state Department of Natural Resources grant for Schuylkill Township to rehabilitate the field.

Enter pinch hitter Dan Blaschak of Blaschak Coal Company in Mahanoy City. He donated 10 acres of an abandoned mine site to the fire company for a new field.

With the project completed, the former baseball field will be turned into a passive mine drainage treatment system that will treat up to 1,000 gallons per minute of acid mine discharges.

"To go from a $25,000 rehab project in 2004 to 2008 and a $400,000 project that wasn't even on the radar -- well, this project is on the top of my list," Reichert said. "It shows what can happen after getting the right people working for the common good."

State Sen. James R. Rhoades, R-29th District, and state Rep. Dave Argall, R-124th District, who threw the field's first pitch at the ceremony, touted the project as an example of teamwork and a big step toward revitalizing communities.

The complex will be used and maintained by Tamaqua Area Baseball and Youth Soccer associations, and the township will lease the facility from the Mary D Fire Company.

Rhoades said he'd like to bring people from out of the area to see the complex, and said youths who use it may be inspired to develop similar projects as adults.

"Look at the beautiful facility you have," Rhoades said. "This is how the coal crackers do it. Little boys and girls will get to use it, and they may someday become the leaders you are."

Lisa Price is a freelance writer.

WHO PITCHED IN?

The new Mary D Fire Company Sports Complex, 10 acres of an abandoned mine site, was built through the cooperation of 19 community groups, businesses and organizations. They are: